Published 4:00 am, Monday, April 23, 2001

2001-04-23 04:00:00 PDT Jerusalem -- A suicide bomber killed himself and an Israeli physician at a bus stop in the central Israeli city of Kfar Sava yesterday, placing such attacks back at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

About 40 other passengers and bystanders were wounded, including a 14-year- old boy who was in critical condition. Israeli officials quickly blamed the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, although officials stopped short of accusing Yasser Arafat of ordering the attack.

"Clearly terror is continuing against Israel emanating from areas under the control of Arafat," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "I'm not saying he gave the order, but he's head of the Palestinian Authority, he's the representative. It leaves us no choice but to take the necessary action."

Such comments customarily presage a military assault on Palestinian territory.

Some Palestinian officials blamed the bombing on frustration over casualties during almost seven months of renewed revolt against Israeli occupation. The vast majority of the more than 400 people who have been killed in the current uprising were Palestinians.

"In principle, we condemn any attack on civilians," said Ziad Abu Zayyad, a Palestinian Cabinet minister. "But the Israelis themselves are causing casualties among civilians, pushing the Palestinians toward extremism."

The nail-filled bomb exploded at 9 a.m. as Bus 29 pulled up to a leafy stop in Kfar Sava, near the border with the West Bank.

"The driver had just opened the bus when there was an explosion from the side," said Sarit Yagen, 18, a passenger. "There was fire and dust. There were screams and shouts."

Kfar Sava has grown familiar with such scenes. On April 14, two explosions detonated in the city, wounding one person; on March 28, a suicide bomber killed two teenagers waiting for a bus outside town.

The blast came a day after a round of Israeli-Palestinian security talks was convened at the urging of U.S. officials.

Although Israeli officials characterized the atmosphere of the meeting as "good," nothing concrete emerged. Israel focused on the increased use of mortars by Palestinians, while the Palestinians demanded pullbacks of Israeli troops from Palestinian areas.

After yesterday's bombing, Sharon found himself the target of withering criticism from members of his own party for engaging publicly in security talks and sending others to secret meetings with Palestinian officials after promising no talks unless the violence stops.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who confirmed yesterday that he had been holding conversations with the Palestinians, was distraught over the bombing.

"It hurts us, it hurts peace and eventually it hurts the Palestinians," he said. "Returning to bombs is returning to an evil that will hurt us all."

But he said the attack should not be allowed to derail progress that had been made.